Optimising spinning disk microscopy for imaging with PAINT
June 7, 2022
Read moreA study from the St Johnston lab led by George Sirinakis and Edward Allgeyer used a two-mirror scanning system which enabled them to compensate for changes in the position of the objective lens during routine microscope operation. Compared to the more traditional scan-lens/galvo-mirror combination, the two-mirror scanning geometry offers higher light-efficiency and a more compact footprint, which could be beneficial to all single objective light-sheet microscope designs regardless of the use of a commercial base or not.
Sirinakis G et al, (2024) User-friendly oblique plane microscopy on a fully functional commercially available microscope base. Biomed. Opt. Express 15, 2358-2376. DOI: 10.1364/BOE.518856
In this work we present an oblique plane microscope designed to work seamlessly with a commercially available microscope base. To support all the functionality offered by the microscope base, where the position of the objective lens is not fixed, we adopted a two-mirror scanning geometry that can compensate for changes to the position of the objective lens during routine microscope operation. We showed that within a ± 1 mm displacement range of the 100X, 1.35 NA objective lens away from its designed position, the PSF size increased by <3% and <11% in the lateral and axial dimensions, respectively, while the error in magnification was <0.5% within volumes extending ± 10 µm about the focal plane. Compared to the more traditional scan-lens/galvo-mirror combination, the two-mirror scanning geometry offers higher light efficiency and a more compact footprint, which could be beneficial to all OPM designs regardless of the use of a commercial base or not.